


The Death Merchant Chronicles

by Tsukichii



Series: The Death Merchant And The Guardian of Time [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: DON'T WORRY NOBODY DIES, Drowning, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Stephen Strange, Riri Williams - Freeform, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony has an problem with the dead, but not as you think, graphical representation of violence, i like mama bear stephen but, iron mama, iron mama needs more love, steve rogers is an idiot, there are many deaths here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2020-08-14 00:06:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20182948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsukichii/pseuds/Tsukichii
Summary: When Anthony Edward Stark was born, he was born with a small mark right in the middle of his sternum. It was a darker color than his skin and was oddly shaped.No one, however, paid much attention, more concerned that Howard Stark's Heir was finally born to follow in his father's footsteps.Aka: Where Tony is known as a death merchant, but not for the reason you think.Or: Where Tony apparently has a problem with death.





	1. Act I - Birth

**Author's Note:**

> HI!  
First, I know I should be writing the next part of my other fic, BUT, that idea kept hammering in my head until I wrote; -;  
Originally, it was going to be just a one shot, but as it was getting too big, I decided to split. Maybe it has about three chapters, but I don't know for sure, I'm still writing.  
Also, although I already posted the warnings, I don't think it's bad to put it back: there are deaths and mention of torture in the fic, if you are sensitive, I recommend caution when reading (or not reading, no problem)  
In addition, good reading!

**Act I - Birth**

Anthony "Tony" Edward Stark was a calm and quiet child. At the age of seven he had already built his first circuit board and was already working on his first motor. He was a very intelligent child, a genius, even smarter than his own father, which, in fact, would be a source of pride to any parent in the world, however ...

“COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!” A voice was roaring furiously.

Tony ran as fast as his little legs could take him as far from the mansion as possible and into the woods around the house.

He ran as far as possible from the sound of broken glass and the angry screams of Howard Stark.

Tony was spending the weekend alone with his father, his mother had gone to a gala party in another country and Jarvis had gone out with Ana to visit her family members. Usually Jarvis didn't leave Tony alone with Howard, but he was already gone when his mother left so the boy ended up alone with his father.

Not that Howard Stark was a bad dad, he was a ok dad, until. A little cold and distant, but a father ok ... When he was sober. Howard had developed an addiction to alcohol after several failed attempts to find Captain America, and unfortunately Howard was the type of violent drunk. The type of violent drunk who assaulted his seven-year-old son. Usually Jarvis was home to keep Howard from getting his hand on Tony after the first time, but unfortunately, his precious butler was gone and would not be back in four days.

So Tony ended up getting stuck with his drunk and aggressive father. The child managed to hide on the first day, but unfortunately Howard found him when he had gone to the kitchen for something to eat and, most unfortunately, he was drunk. Then in a fit of rage as soon as he saw the little brunette, he threw the bottle of whiskey he was holding on the child, the shards hit Tony and slashed several cuts in his face and arms on the side where he was hit by the bottle.

Luckily Tony managed to escape when Howard tripped over his own feet and fell.

Now the boy is running aimlessly through the woods, wishing Jarvis or his mother were there with him, tears mingling with the blood streaming from his wounds.

And since unfortunately he wasn't paying attention to where he was running, Tony tripped and fell into a rut. It was all so fast, and even before the brunette could understand what had happened, he felt a blinding pain in his head and then there was only darkness.

_______________

When Tony woke up, he felt his head and his back sticky and disgusting. The child whimpered, irritated when he got up and grunted, feeling that he was lying in a very uncomfortable place.

Where he was?

Tony looked around in confusion as he ran his hand over his head, trying to locate himself. The brunette was sitting on a ravine in the middle of a forest. Tony blinked before putting his hand in front of his face, noting that his hand was stained red.

Not red, blood.

Tony stared in horror for a moment, before he blinked and his memories returned and he jumped at once, looking around before fixing his gaze on the sizable innocent stone near where he lay. The stone had a sinister stain of blood and a large pool around it.

The child frantically raised his hands to his head, looking for injuries, but he found nothing. Even the injuries he was sure he had suffered from the bottle he carried were no longer there. And if it wasn't for the blood, he wouldn't even suspect he was hurt, because his skin was perfect and didn't even have a small scar.

Tony looked around and then turned his gaze to all that blood, a confused and frightened expression on his face.

“W-what happened ...?”

Tony whispered, but only silence was his answer.

_______________

Tony had come home that night, avoiding Howard and running to his room. The child managed to get rid of the blood by staining his clothes by dipping them in the bleach and soaking them for a while.

While he waited, Tony sat on the cold bathroom floor, hugging his legs and resting his chin on his knees as he watched the basin with bleach and his clothes, silent, thoughtful.

The seven-year-old was trying to understand what had happened that day. Of course, Tony knew that for all that had happened to him, just the blood loss alone was enough to make Tony very bad at the very least. If he was honest, he was supposed to die.

Although only seven years old, death was not a strange concept to the child, his father had told him what it was, when he was just four years old, right after his grandfather passed away. So it wasn't a new term for Tony, as much as he didn't know what happened next.

The brunette stands for a while, thoughtfully, before getting up and walking to the sink, using a stool to climb, reach out and grab the razor his father uses for shaving.

Tony stared at the blade in fascination for a moment, carefully lowered the stool and sat back against the cupboard before holding the blade in both hands and pointing at his own chest.

He was going to do that. There was no way to confirm a theory without tests, right? He needed to know what happened to him, if ... If he died and came back, he needed to test, know if he would come back or if he just got confused and hadn't been hurt, no matter how much his brain said it was impossible. And Tony believed in his brain, because Jarvis and his mother always said he was smart, so he was right ...?

Tony brought the blade to his chest, his hands shaking.

He had to test! I had to know if he was coming back! He needed! He had to understand!

Tony touched the tip of the blade to his chest, the blade touched his skin and he left it for a few seconds, then he brushed it away with a tearful wail before throwing it away, trembling.

He had to do it, but ... He was scared. If he did that and didn't come back, he would never see Jarvis or his mother again.

In the end Tony did nothing, just took his clothes, did his best to dry them before throwing them in the basket and returning to his room. The child slept quickly, the events of the day tiring him more than he had thought.

_______________

Tony, in the end, was only seven when his first death happened, and as much as he was a genius, he was still just a child.

He dropped the subject until, a few years later, he totally disappeared from his head and he forgot.

_______________ 

Tony forgot about this little peculiarity about himself until the day after his parents' funeral he was kidnapped by a terrorist group that wanted to extort money from the teenager and the SI.

He had been kidnapped from his parents' mansion and taken somewhere he didn't know where.

He had been tortured, exploded, had shrapnel from a bomb lodged in his chest, close to his heart, had a car battery attached to his chest to keep from dying, had help from another guy who was with him, a man named Yinsen, who helped him create a miniature arc reactor, was tortured to make weapons, and when they saw it was no use (Tony was a stubborn son of a bitch, if he didn't want to, no torture would force him to do it and my friend, he really didn't want to.), they decided to call SI.

Throughout his “tortureland” stay, Tony was sure Obie was looking for him. Okay, he had told Obie, his aunt Peggy, and his friends Rhodey and Pepper that he was going to be alone for a while, but even though he said he would be isolated to cry in silence for a moment, he always sent. a message to Obie, even though it's just a "I'm fine" message, he sent a message to Obie He was gone several weeks ago and he was sure Obie was already after him. His precious godfather must be close to finding Tony already, so he just had to hold on a little longer until Obie and his aunt Peggy came to save him.

He bet even his Rhodey should be behind him, along with Pepper.

What he didn't expect was that when his kidnappers, after killing Yinsen when they tried to escape (Tony didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think about the failed armor project, how they killed Yinsen in front of him and he had to stay with Yinsen's corpse in the room before taking him to another place, infernal colder than the other captivity-), managed to contact Obie and threatened his life over the phone, one of them going far enough to stick scissors in his hand, making Obie hear her screams, but his godfather laughed.

Obadiah Stane, his beloved godfather, laughed when I heard him scream in pain.

“Good job catching the kid, I didn't even have to hire anyone! Do me a favor, yes? When you kill him, get rid of the body in a convincing way because then I can forge his death and finally have the Stark industries to myself, I already have Howard's projects, I don't need the kid anymore.” And with one last laugh, he hung up.

"Well ..." The man holding the phone sighed before tossing the phone to the other and pulling a pistol from his waist. "It's nothing personal, kid, but now that you have no use for us, there's no reason why I should let you live, right?" He turned to Tony, pointing his pistol at him. Tony stared at the gun, his brown eyes wide with fear and aching from the betrayal he had just suffered, tears running freely from his eyes. The man looked at him for a few seconds before sighing, hitting the gun. "Don't worry, let's leave your corpse here to be found, I won't give Stane the bastard that taste."

"Look on the bright side, brat," The man who had stabbed him in the hand grinned, cruel and macabre, slapping his back violently. “now you will no longer feel pain.”

Tony couldn't answer, he heard a loud noise, a headache, and then nothing more.

_______________

When Tony woke up, he was disoriented and with a terrible headache. He blinked, realizing he was lying on the cold ground, his head and back were sticky and he felt disgusting. Tony blinked for a moment, realizing that the place he was in was very dark.

"What the hell ..." Tony muttered, putting his hand to his head, trying to stop the pain. When he held her head, however, he felt it was wet. Wet and sticky.

Sitting quickly and ignoring the wave of dizziness that hit him, Tony reached for the front of his face and let out a startled sigh when he saw it.

Blood. Your hand is covered in blood. Tony's eyes widened as the memories hit him.

The kidnapping, the blast, Yinsen, the reactor, the Obie-Stane betrayal ... The shot he got in the head.

Tony groped his forehead, trying to find a bullet hole, anything that says he was shot in the face, but he found nothing.

The brunette let out a shaky breath in the darkness of the place and put his head in his hands, his brain running wildly, his thoughts mingling, worsening his headache, before he stopped and suddenly sighed when a memory came and went. stood out in all that brain storm. A reminder of when he was a child. He remembered running from his drunken father, the noise of a shattering bottle, running away in tears, from a forest ... From a fall ... A stone ...

Had happened. That had happened before, when he was a child, he fell, hit his head on a rock and did not die.

He hit his head and didn't die when he was supposed to die either.

Tony clasped his head in his hands, trying to make the storm in his mind stop.

What was happening?

_______________

Tony doesn't know how long he sat in the dark having one attack after another, but he managed to calm down after a while. The brunette sighed tremulously before leaning against the wall and getting up, ignoring all the blood on the floor.

Stark looked around, realizing he was still in the execution room. They must have killed me and left me here, as that guy said he would, Tony thought darkly. The brunette took a deep breath before lifting his head, his brown eyes determined.

"Okay," Tony muttered, looking around the room, staring at the dark door. Your likely departure from the place “you're alive.” The teenager began to walk, wincing as he stepped on the blood, still fresh on the floor. He had to find shoes, being barefoot here was very uncomfortable “You're alive, come on, Stark. You're alive, God knows how, but you're alive. You can freak out later. Remember what Yinsen said? Do not waste your life. Live.” Tony stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. “You can be pathetic and freak out after leaving this hell.” Then the brunette opened the door and left the damn room.

Just to face a ladder that apparently led to another door. Tony blinked and stared at the stairs for a moment before ignoring all caution and just starting to climb the stairs. "Apparently they can't really kill me, so damn the damn care, I don't have to worry about dying anyway." Tony thought darkly, opening the door carelessly before closing his eyes tightly in the glare.

The brunette blinked and put his hand in front of his face before he started to walk and lean against a wall while rubbing his eyes, trying to get used to the light.

"I was definitely not expecting that." Tony grumbled when he finally could see again, observing the environment around him.

The whole place looked old. Old and very bad taste. The walls were a strange yellow, the floor was made of planks and he did not look at all safe, which was not broken, was apparently rotten. The doors were dark in color and as old and rotten as the floor. The walls were no better, they were dirty and looked like they were going to collapse.

In fact, the whole place looked like it would collapse at any moment.

"Urgh, disgusting."

Tony shuddered and pushed himself away from the wall, wiping his hand on his pants before walking carefully around. Tony might have discovered his "power" and kind of lost his fear of dying, but he wasn't about to fall and get stuck there.

As he walked, Tony looked out a broken window, trying to locate himself, but all he could see was a seemingly endless forest. Swallowing a groan, Tony moved forward, looking for a way out.

Leaving the haunted house first, thinking about leaving the damn forest later.

Suddenly a loud noise made Tony jump and almost fall into a hole in the floor.

“What the fuck now ...?” The Stark grunted, turning his head and starting to walk toward the noise, before realizing that there was a trail of blood leading to a room and stop.

It was apparently a trail of fresh blood. Tony stared at that for a moment before shrugging and walking on, all the while his sense of preservation practically shouting at him that it was a bad idea.

Who needs a sense of preservation when it's apparently immortal, isn't it?

Tony walked into a room that apparently had no door. Stopping by, Stark put his hand on the doorway and tilted his head so he could see what was in the room.

The room was dark and gloomy, in the same style as his “room,” where the damned executed him. It had several torture objects, knives, nails and everything imaginable.

But that was not what caught Tony's eye.

What caught his eye was the bloody man chained to the wall with a red metallic helmet on his head.

“What the hell... ?” Tony grunted before entering the room and walking over to the man, his brain whispering to him that the torture objects in the room didn't seem to be metal, but he ignored crouching down to the man.

"Y-You shouldn't be barefoot in a place like this, brat ..."

“Ah!” Tony shouted, falling backwards, looking at the man who whispered as Stark reached for him before passing out.

Tony didn't know, but at that moment he had just found Magneto, who had been missing for almost as long as he was and had been tortured for as long as he had.

_______________

"Come on, we have to get out of here, we don't know when they'll be back, or worse, we don't know if we want where we are!" Tony exclaimed, pacing.

"Even if you can carry me, brat, which is unlikely because you're weak, where are we going? It's like you said, we have no idea where we are, it's best to wait for help, as much as I can't stand that idea." The man sighed before leaning against the wall and grimacing at his injuries.

Tony turned his head to the man across the room, Erik, and frowned at him. The man was leaning against the wall in the cleanest, most "safe" corner of the house they were in, his chest partially covered with makeshift bandages made from both Tony's and Erik's shirts.

Tony looked away at his own chest and shivered in the cold. He was now only in his black pants, his feet were bare and he was shirtless, the arc reactor gleaming ominously in his sternum. 

"We can't do nothing.” The teenager hated to admit it, but Erik was right on that point. They were practically stranded there, Tony had no way of carrying Erik and he was not going to leave him there, no matter how unknown the man was. "How are you so sure they will help us?" The brunette asked, turning to Erik again. The other man was terribly pale, and although Tony had done his best to help, he knew that Erik needed a hospital as soon as possible because of the extensive injuries he had to his body.

At least Tony managed to remove the strange handcuffs and red helmet from the other.

"Because I disappeared a long time ago, about five, six weeks, more specifically," Erik explained, staring at the young Stark. "And the helmet I was wearing blocked an acquaintance from finding me, but as you took it off, I was able to talk to him." and the ransom must be on its way.

"How the hell do they know where we are?" Tony grimaced thoughtfully. "Do you have any trackers in you? Better, how the hell did you get to talk to him? Because I searched for some kind of radio or phone, but found nothing.”

"Because Charles is a mutant, like you and me."

"But ..." Tony began, looking away and squeezing his arm with his hand, almost hugging himself. "I'm not a mutant." Tony seemed unsure even to himself. Erik just stared at the teenager, arching an eyebrow.

"And how do you explain surviving? Didn't you literally have your brains out? It seems like a mutant power to me, a very strong one, even." Erik said, the other man seemed strangely understanding.

“ I ... I don't know.”

_______________ 

“Hold on! Don't let me go, I'll get you out of here!” Tony exclaimed, clutching the small fluttering body in his arms. The dark-haired girl in his arms tightened around her neck, hard enough to bruise, but Tony paid no attention, concentrating only on taking the little girl in his arms from the violent river they were in.

Tony had left the house while he was with Erik, planning to look for something so they could eat. He moved away and had picked some fruit and mushrooms when it started to rain hard. Tony had run and taken shelter in a large tree near a river.

He had stayed there for a while before deciding it was better to return when he heard a desperate scream. Turning quickly, he saw a little girl being carried by the current.

Tony didn't think twice before dropping everything and jumping into the river to save the child.

So here he was, holding the little girl, trying to keep her from drowning as she was carried by the current.

Well, shit.

“Fuck,” Tony thought, gritting his teeth as he felt sharp things cut into his legs and realized that in addition to a violent current, the river also had sharp rocks. "Can it get any worse?" Tony turned his back, at least trying to keep the girl from getting hurt. He could feel the sharp stones opening several cuts all over his body and the freezing cold of the water making his fingers numb, but Stark didn't care.

Tony then looked for a moment at the girl in his arms. She was terrified, terrified blue eyes staring at him with pleading. Tony held the girl in his arms and was filled with determination.

He was not going to let her die.

Stark began to look around for a way out of that natural trap. “Come on, you idiot, aren't you a genius? It's no use if you don't find a way to get the girl out of here. ”He started to get desperate when he finally saw it.

In fact, he felt it. As it was carried by the current, Tony tapped the roots of a huge tree that stood on the bank of the river.

Tony coughed, losing his breath from the blow. He looked around for a moment and grasped the root with one hand, the other still holding the girl in his arms. He gritted his teeth as his hand began to slip and they were pulled back by the river.

“Hey!” Tony exclaimed, drawing the girl's attention in his arms “I'll need my other hand here, so you have to hold me with all your strength, ok?!” He shouted, looking at the child. She stared at him, startled but still determined, and tightened her grip on his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. Tony smiled and released the girl, with both hands now free, he can grasp the root with all his strength and start dragging them to the shore.

Unfortunately Tony can only celebrate for a moment before feeling his stomach fall when he saw that the margin was too high for the child to climb alone.

The teenager looked distressed for a moment before using the root as a support and holding the little girl between his body and the river bank, so that she is not taken.

Tony breathed for a moment and smiled as wide as he could at the terrified girl in front of him.

"I know it's not the best of dates, but my name is Tony, what's yours?"

"M-My name is Donna." Even with the loud roar of the current, Tony can hear the child's trembling voice clearly.

"Well, I think I can get us out of here, I just need you-ARGH!" Tony screamed in pain as he felt something sharp pierce his body. The pain was so intense that the brunette saw white for a moment, his limbs losing strength, the only thing preventing him and the little girl from being taken was the root.

"T-Tony!" Donna's terrified scream was what brought him back to the living world. Tony grunted, feeling the blood pooling in his mouth and his legs losing their strength.

Even with the absurd pain he was feeling at that moment, Tony smiled tremulously at the child in his arms.

"H-hey, don't worry, I'm f-fine." Tony with great effort began to try to put the child on his shoulders. "Donna, I n-need you to be brave and do s-something for me. I-I need you to get on my shoulders and get out of the river.”

“B-but what about you?” Donna asked, but Tony ignored her, gathering all his strength, he began to lift her, placing her on his shoulders. The brunette crawled until he leaned against the bank.

“Come on, you have to go up.” He insisted.

The child leaned over and, standing on the teenager's shoulders, managed to throw himself near the tree on the muddy ground, finally free from danger. Donna hurried back to the riverbank, reaching for Tony.

“Hold my hand, Tony!” She exclaimed, but Tony just smiled serenely at her. Donna had tears in her eyes “M-my brother is a doctor in training, he can help you, he takes care of all my ouchies! If I ask, he will take care of yours too! Oh, and my other brother, Victor, is very strong! He will get you out of there very fast!”

“Y-you have to get away from the river bank, Donna, it's d-dangerous and you could fall." Tony muttered, his arms losing strength. The only thing that kept him from being taken now was the root, but he was sinking. With an effort, Tony managed to get his arm in the bud so as not to sink.

He wasn't going to give up yet, as much as he wanted to, he wasn't going to give up. Not until he was sure Donna would be safe.

Fortunately Tony didn't have to wait long, as he began to hear screams in the background. Donna lifted her head and walked away from the bank.

“ STEPHEN! VICTOR! RIGHT HERE!” She shouted, waving, moving farther and farther from the bank, running toward the screams.

Tony smiled serenely, feeling his eyes get heavy and his arm slip. Was he strangely calm on his deathbed, perhaps because he knew he was coming back? Tony doesn't know, his brain wasn't working very well and he couldn't think of complicated things right now.

"B-be safe, Donna ..." he murmured before falling back into the river, being carried by the current.

Tony had always thought that the two worst kinds of deaths were to die burned and drown, because it was a slow death and you suffer and despair.

Though calm when he sank, Tony began to panic when his breath was gone, an automatic response from his own body. He tried to swing his arms, trying to get out of the water in despair.

He didn't want to drown.

He didn't want to drown!

_He did_-

All of Tony's frantic thoughts stopped when he felt something sharp pierce his shoulder, cut through his body, tearing his heart in the path.

After that Tony felt nothing more.

_______________

When Tony woke up, unlike other times, he knew exactly what happened. He remembered jumping into a river to save a child, he remembered being impaled and being carried by the river.

He remembered drowning.

Tony jumped to his feet, looking frantically at his body, searching for any trace to indicate that he had been injured in the river, that he had died again, but all he saw was his unmarked white skin.

He didn't even have a scar to prove he was impaled.

Tony put his hand on his head and closed his eyes, feeling his chest tighten and the air coming out of his lungs. Why? Why the hell was this happening? What was wrong with him? What-

“You need to calm down, having a panic attack now won't help anything.” A calm voice seemed to speak directly in his head and all panicked thoughts of Tony stopped for a moment and he managed to breathe again.

"I'm glad you woke up, trouble brat, for a moment I was worried." Tony turned his head and looked toward the voice, only to face a bald man in a wheelchair and ...

“Erik!” Tony exclaimed, happy that the other man was well and safe. “You're fine!- Wait! Donna! Donna is ok?!” The teenager looked worriedly at the other man, who only sighed, as if expecting that from Stark. The man in the wheelchair laughed.

"For some reason I'm not at all surprised that you're asking about the girl you died saving before you even thought to ask where you are." Erik grunted, going to Tony and guiding the wheelchair with him.

"You'll be glad to know the girl you saved is fine." Her brothers managed to find her and took her home safely. The man in the wheelchair said and Tony lay down, feeling that he could breathe again.

“Oh, thank God.” He sighed, finally realizing that he was lying on a soft bed. Tony got up and looked around, he was in a simple room, the walls were beige, had furniture with a TV, a wardrobe and a window. The bed he was lying on had soft white covers. Tony stared at himself for a moment, realizing that he was wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt that was too big for him and a pair of black shorts.

“Anyway,” Erik sighed, bored, “brat, this is Charles, the guy who saved our asses, Charles, this is the troublesome brat I was talking about.

“Hey!” Tony exclaimed indignantly “Wait, where am I? Tony turned to Erik and the bald man.”

The man in the wheelchair smiled.

“You're in Professor Xavier's School for Young Gifted, my name is Charles Xavier.”

_______________

“All your wounds are healed and gone, no scars, almost as if you never wanted to exist in the first place. If Erik hadn't told me and Hank hadn't seen with the others, I wouldn't believe it. It is a superior healing power even Logan's. You have a really great gift.”

Tony looked at Charles before sighing and staring at his hands. He was two days at the mansion, Erik had explained to him that they were in Nebraska before they were rescued and that a guy named Logan was who found his body at the bottom of a lake before they were taken to school.

Today Erik just left Charles in Tony's room and left grumbling.

Now Tony was alone in the room with Charles and he felt strangely overwhelmed by the other man.

“Uh, will you help me? I mean," Tony stammered, looking down at his lap, "I'm Howard Stark's son. Like, Howard Stark. The Lord of the guns. You know, that Howard Stark.”

"I know whose son you are, Tony." Charles laughed softly “No one here would judge you for the sins of your father and we do not deny help to those in need, especially to someone who dies saving someone else.” Charles added, smiling shrewdly at the teenager.

"It wasn't really a big deal, I knew I wouldn't die and Donna would die if I stayed in the river, so it wasn't a very difficult choice." Tony shrugged with some indifference. He wasn't going to die, so it was a pretty logical choice.

Charles smiled sadly at the child, indifferent to his own safety before him.

“Don't worry, we will help you control and understand your mutation.”

Tony looked at Charles, relief written all over his face.

“Thank you.” 

_______________

“ Why don't you take off the reactor?” Tony turned his head to the pretty red-haired woman who was sitting next to a dark-haired man wearing a strange kind of sunglasses. Jean and Scott, his mind provided. "He's not needed anymore, isn't he?"

Tony looked down at his chest where the arc reactor was, glowing bright blue against his pale skin.

"Yes, but ..." Tony muttered, shaking his feet. He was sitting outside the mansion with Jean and Scott, the couple were sitting at a table and Tony was sitting on the grass near Jean, looking at some students training with their powers while Storm supervised them “ I'll still need him to wear my suit, you know, the one I want to build. I tried to do it before but it failed because I didn't have time to finish, only I want to continue the project, and the reactor and the power source. Not to mention that when it was put on, it drilled a hole in my chest and I honestly don't know what effect it can have. I mean… ”Tony scratches his head thoughtfully.“ If it doesn't heal when I take it off, I could have a hole in my chest, and that was going to be pretty problematic.

"Don't you have a healing factor, Tony?" Scott asks, turning to the teenager “When we picked you up and Logan found you, I saw you completely heal from fatal injuries.”

"That's the case," Tony begins. "I heal the fatal injuries." At this Tony raises his hands and shows his palms, wounds and red, the result of a fall he had taken while distracted with Night and his cool teleportation power. “Nonfatal injuries are not healed. I think they can even be healed if I have a fatal injury, but in general, I can only heal fatal injuries.” Tony shrugged. He had already commented to Charles about this, even suggesting that someone “activate” his power, but the professor went against someone killing him just so he could test if he could get the reactor off his chest.

"Then let's make sure you don't get hurt, will you?" Scott said, getting up and passing by Tony, ruffling the hair of the brunette and giving a kiss on Jean “I will teach now, meet you later?” Jean smiled at her boyfriend.

“Of course, dear.”

Tony watched the exchange in silence and couldn't help thinking that despite the regrets, the mansion's atmosphere was terribly domesticated and the teenager found himself enjoying it.

He hadn't felt at home since Jarvis's death when he was fifteen.

_______________

“Charles? Can I talk to you?” Tony asked, opening the door of Charles's office, only to freeze when he saw that the Beast, Hank, was with him and they seemed to be talking. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I can come back later."

"Don't worry, Tony, Hank was just handing me some papers." Charles smiled at the teenager. "You need anything?"

"Yes, I ... I want to recover the Stark Industries." Tony looked determinedly at Charles. "I don't want to let Stark Industries stay with Obadiah Stane. He will continue the reign of my father and I ... I do not want to leave. I want to get the guns out of the Stark name. Can you guys help me?"

When Tony finished speaking, both Charles and Hank looked at young Stark with small smiles.

"Of course, Tony, we will help you."

_______________

"Don't you have to talk to someone, brat?" Rogue asked, watching Tony Stark lying on Jean Gray's lap, practically purring while the other one petted him. - No family or friends to tell you are still alive and kicking?

"I told you, Scott lent me the phone. I talked to Aunt Peggy and Rhodey, they come to pick me up this afternoon.” the brunette responds with a happy sigh.

Rogue watches the scene for a few more seconds before sighing and leaving, thinking of how awkward Tony Stark was.

_______________

“TONY!” James Rhodes exclaims when he sees his precious friend and hugs him tightly “Next time when you decide to isolate yourself, you will do it in my house, understand, you idiot ?!” Tony laughs, tears pooling in his eyes as he hugged his best friend tightly.

“I promise, Rhodey.”

_______________

Tony watched Obadiah Stane be taken by several agents. He felt strangely numb, Stane's betrayal still a fresh wound in his heart.

Roberta Rhodes squeezed the teenager's shoulder gently. In the background he could see Charles talking to his aunt Peggy and a strange man with an eye patch. Rhodey, who was also there with him, pulled him by the shoulder for a loose hug.

"It'll be fine, Tony."

And for the first time in a while, Tony believed him.

_______________

It's been a while since all this happened, his kidnapping, Stane's betrayal, finding out he was a mutant, meeting the X-Men. When Tony thinks about it, he feels like it's a life away, but despite all the suffering, Tony wouldn't have changed a thing.

_______________

Tony was eighteen when he returned to M.I.T. to get his second doctorate. After all the confusion with Stane was resolved, it was decided that the young Stark would take over the company at the age of twenty-one, while his friend Pepper would be the CEO and Tony would send projects to SI as he finished his Ph.D. MIT

"Sorry, are you ok?" Tony blinked for a moment, looking at the outstretched hand in front of him for a moment before grabbing and standing.

The brunette let go of the other's hand and looked sadly at his spilled coffee in mourning, before turning to the guy who bumped into him, just to freeze. Tony looked into the most beautiful stormy blue-green eyes he had ever seen and felt his face heat up.

Those eyes were accompanied by one of the most beautiful guys he had ever seen.

"N-not me-" Tony stammered for a moment before coughing quietly to try to calm down - it was my fault, I was distracted. Tony then looked at the other spilled drink on the floor and frowned. "Sorry about your coffee, I'll buy you another one."

The handsome-eyed man smiled at Tony and Tony felt his face heat up again, because his smile was as beautiful as his eyes and Tony was lost.

“Since I also spilled your coffee, we can go to a coffee shop, I know a very good one nearby, what do you think?”

“O-Of course! By the way, my name is Tony.” Tony smiled shyly. “So ... Is it a date?”

“My name is Stephen.” The man, Stephen, extended his hand to Tony and Tony grabbed it “If you want it to be, then it's a date. Particularly, I have no problem taking a cute guy like you on a date.” The other man confirmed, shaking Tony's hand and bringing it to his lips, smiling even more with the bright red tone that the other's face gained.


	2. Act II - Heaven, Hell and Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First of all, sorry for the delay to post! Many things happened in my life and I didn't have time to write, I work in the emergency service in my city and it is a very stressful job, not to mention that I attend two colleges, graphic design and computer science, so my free time is equal to zero currently; - ;!  
Not to mention that this fic gave me some work, because I ended up changing everything three times, because the final result did not please me, but anyway, I hope you like it!
> 
> Also, some warnings: there is an implicit suicide, so I recommend caution when reading! Oh and Steve being an idiot
> 
> In addition, enjoy reading!

**Heaven**

\----

When Tony joined MIT, the brunette was just 14 years old and was very excited about the idea that he could make up anything he wanted without having to worry about his father or the bedtime set by his mother and Jarvis.

He could invent whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and any way he wanted.

Thanks to Tony's new creative freedom, however, eventually drove him away from the social interactions that college life brought with the years.

Of course, that and the fact that Rhodey had always kept him pleasantly entertained with science and robotics so that Tony never had to worry about mundane things like romance and alcohol.

Who needs romance when they're creating super amazing artificial intelligence, right?

However, as he grew older, Tony became interested in other things besides robotics and science.

Romance and dating, more specifically.

However, when Tony had started thinking about dating, his parents had died, he was kidnapped, killed a few times, was betrayed by Stane and met Erik and his family and so his life was very busy and dating was just a thing of the past, as much through his head as before.

And for Tony that was ok.

Again, who needs romance when you have an amazing new family and are practically an immortal (sort of) in training?

And again, that was great for Stark. His life was messy enough just with him, imagine adding another one to the mix.

That had been the opinion of an eighteen-year-old Tony Stark, right after all these traumatic events that radically changed his life.

Now the nineteen-year-old Tony Stark was cursing all his life decisions as he paced his room with a pained expression on his face, freaking out because after nearly a year of being a friend and developing a ridiculously big crush by Stephen Strange, he had been called out.

By Stephen Strange, more precisely.

In contrast to Tony, who was pacing the room in near despair, Rhodey and Pepper, who were sitting on his bed, stared at the brunette with amusement.

"I'm sure you don't have to worry, Tony. Stephen is a pretty decent guy, it's a good first date, I approve.” Rhodey smiled, nodding to himself.

“But Rhodey!” Tony turned to his best friend-almost-brother with a frown. "I've never been on a date in my life, how the hell am I supposed to know what to do? What if he thinks I'm an idiot? And if- ”He stops when Pepper gets up and walks over to him, placing his hands on his shoulders as he stands in front of him, smiling comfortingly. "I don't want Stephen to think I'm an idiot." Tony practically whimpers to his best friend.

"Don't worry, Tony, I'm sure you'll be all right, you're friends, and if this Stephen is the same one you keep pathetically craving, if I may say so, and yearns for you almost as much as you do that’s It's almost ridiculous, so I'm sure it'll be all right.” Pepper joked.

"Of course it's the same Stephen, what other medical Stephen do you think I know? I barely have friends.” Tony grunted. ”Wait, yearning?” The brunette looked at Pepper anxiously “That means he likes me, right?”

“What are we? Minced liver?” Rhodey arched an eyebrow at the overly dramatic brunette. "Of course he likes you, but I don't know what delivered him, the fact that he practically has hearts in his eyes when he looks at you or the fact that he has called you out."

"I barely have friends, I didn't say I didn't have any, of course you guys are my friends." -Tony snorted. “As annoying as you are sometimes.”

"I feel the love, Tones, now I know why Stephen is so in love with you."

“Shut up!” Tony hissed with a red face and Rhodey laughed.

"Don't tease him too much, James, he's just nervous about the date." Pepper then looked at Tony, smiled mischievously and walked away, placing his hand on his forehead and letting out a dramatic and false sigh. "I bet he'll be your prince charming, kiss your hand, be kind and treat you like the cute prince you are. Oh, and remember, as handsome and charming as he is, don't do anything you don't want.”

“Pepper! We're just going to see a movie and dinner! And I am not a defenseless princess!”

"Of course, you are an armored princess." Rhodey laughed.

“And I'm not cute! And not a princess.” Tony grunted and Rhodey laughed.

"Sure, Tony, you're the big and bad Tony Stark, everyone fears you." Pepper laughed. "You're going to dinner and then watch a movie and then to the park, right?"

"We're actually going to watch the movie and eat at my house, theaters give me a headache and parks are very crowded, so Stephen said it was okay for us to do that, so what?" Tony looked at the redhead, confused for a moment “What the hell has this got to do with something? We'll watch Star Wars, because Stephen never watched, which is an outrage, if you want my humble opinion, we won't see a _porn_, for God's sake. ”Tony grunted, his face a faint shade of red, the mere thought of watching a porn movie with Stephen making him hot and uncomfortable.

Pepper stared at the brunette for a few seconds before turning his face to Rhodey and arching an eyebrow.

"You know this is your fault." At this Rhodey looked at Tony for a moment before turning to Pepper.

"What did you want me to do? Letting a fourteen-year-old boy drink and have evenings with much older drunk college guys? No thank you.”

“I understand, but ... He'll need a social interaction class. We can't let it go like this, it's practically a feast for profiteers!”

“Stephen won't take advantage of me!” Tony exclaimed indignantly, his face turning redder when he understood the implications of Pepper “We're just going to dinner and see a movie, I'm not going to bed with him tonight!”

The other two stared at Tony for a moment.

"Maybe he doesn't need so many social interaction classes like that," Pepper laughed, shaking his head. "See, he says he doesn't intend to sleep with Stephen _tonight_."

\- Shut up. Tony grumbled, turning his face away, his cheeks finally losing their bloody red tone.

"Tony," Rhodey called, glaring at him seriously, "remember the school's sex education classes, just because you're male doesn't mean you shouldn't wear protection, remember, use a condom." Stark's face turned bright red.

_“RHODEY!”_

\--------

To say that Tony Stark was in love with Stephen Strange was an understatement, it was like saying that the sky is blue or that birds fly.

Of course, it wasn't just the fact that Stephen was handsome and the fact that every time he smiled at Tony that half hellish sexy smile and winked at him always made him warm under the collar.

No, it was the little things that made Tony fall in love with Stephen, the lively way he talked about medicine, the soft smile when he talked about his sister Donna, the lazy smile on Sunday mornings when they had no classes or jobs to deliver, the kind smile that was always directed at him.

It may have been stupid, of course, the logical part of him scolded him for letting Stephen come into his life like that, but Tony honestly can't do much about it.

Stephen only needed a year to make him fall completely in love with him after all.

\---------

As much as Tony loved Stephen, however, he never told the truth about his mutation.

In fact, if he thought about it, Tony never said anything about his mutation to anyone, not even his best friends. Erik and his family knew why they had _seen it_ so he had never really told anyone about it.

Tony never really bothered to think _why_.

\--------

The next time Tony died, he was 20 and was with Scott and Jubilee in downtown New York. Rhodey was on an overseas mission, Pepper was in SI, and Stephen was with his brother, helping him with something.

The three of them were coming out of a jewelry store, the younger two chattering to Scott about the really cool ring he had bought for Jean when they heard a commotion from the street.

If Tony was honest, he honestly doesn't remember much of what happened, the only things he clearly remembered were seeing a big strange man with a gun running towards them.

He didn't think much when he saw that the man had aimed at a child who was staring at him in terror.

He thought even less when he heard a crash and threw himself in front of the child, taking the shot for her.

He remembers hearing screams, a searing stomach ache, and strong, comforting arms holding him.

And then nothing.

\-----

When Tony woke up, he was lying on a long, comfortable bed and Scott was sitting in an armchair beside him.

“Are you all ok? Is the child ok?” The brunette asked hoarsely, sitting on the bed with the help of Scott.

“Yes, they're all fine. Jubilee is angry with you, by the way, and you got several calls from your friends. That made the headlines, but Charles was able to talk to them, explaining that you were being healed by an experimental medical process.” Scott looked vaguely amused at this, and Tony seemed to have seen him arch his eyebrows beneath those strange glasses he wore.

"By the way, your friend Stephen seemed pretty aggressive about insisting on being here with you while you recovered."

“My boyfriend, actually.” Tony smiled fondly as he thought of his boyfriend before raising his eyebrows. “Eh? Angry why? Wait, how long have I been sleeping?”

"You died in front of her when there were better options for acting that wouldn't put your life on the line," Scott sighed. "To be honest, I'm upset too, we could have solved it without hurting you. And you have been sleeping for three days.”

"But my life was not at risk, I wasn't going to die and I knew it." Tony frowned. "Wait, three days? I need to call Stephen, Rhodey and Pepper, they must be worried, I-“

“Take it easy, I'll get a phone and you can talk to them, now rest.” Scott said, pushing Tony back to bed “And do not think we will not continue this conversation later.”

"I don't understand what's the big deal," Tony muttered a while later, lying back in bed. "I wasn't going to die, why would you be angry? The child did not die and you were not exposed as mutants.”

Scott stared at him in silence for a moment before sighing.

"We'll have to talk about your self-sacrifice tendencies later."

\----

"You look distracted, Anthony." Jean commented approaching the young brunette.

Tony was sitting on the balcony of his room at school, staring at the stars. He was wearing an oversized gray sweater (probably Scott's) for him and a pair of jeans that covered his feet.

It was the night of the same day that young Stark had awakened and Stephen would arrive early tomorrow to pick him up.

“I'm just thinking.” The brunette muttered, shaking his feet.

“Do you want to tell me?” Jean asked softly, sitting next to the brunette.

“I dont understand.” Tony sighed after a while, looking at Jean with a frown on his lips.

“What you do not understand?” The redhead asked kindly.

"Why are they angry that I died? Juby and Scott, I mean. Apart from the pain, it's almost like falling asleep, I always wake up later and I'm never really a casualty. It is not logical.” Tony shook his head.

At this Jean faces Tony with a sad smile and pulls him by the shoulders for a hug.

"We worry because we love you, Tony, you're part of our family, it hurts to see you hurt." she whispered in the fluffy brown hair, feeling Tony melt in the hug, it was always lovely how willing he was for affection “Jubilee was upset because she does not want to see you dead even if you come back.”

Tony was silent, enjoying the warmth in Jean's embrace, his logical mind not understanding what Jean was telling him.

"If I'm coming back, then why worry?"

\-----

“Thanks for taking care of him.” Stephen thanked him after he hugged and kissed Tony, assuring himself that his love was fine.

Charles Xavier, who was seeing the interaction with an amused smile, just nodded.

“No problem, Anthony is always welcome here.”  
  


\-----

When Tony was 21, he found Donna again. It had been three months after Tony was officially appointed CEO of SI and he was stressed and bogged down at work.

That was when his boyfriend Stephen, who had graduated almost eight months ago, went to Tony and asked if he didn't want to spend the weekend with his family in Nebraska. The brunette didn't even blink in acceptance, much to the amusement of his friends.

Then, after another stressful week the two finally traveled to Nebraska and Tony was now in the middle of his boyfriend's living room, watching with big, curious eyes, Stephen looked at him with a small loving smile.

"I'll leave our things in my old room, then we can go horse riding, what do you think?" The doctor smiled, holding the smaller man in a half hug with a smile. Stephen never gets tired of touching Tony, touching him sometimes is never enough.

“Of course, I always wanted to ride a horse.” Tony gives Stephen a smile and the doctor kisses him gently on the lips.

“Be right back.” Stephen whispered in Tony's mouth with a smile and walked away, taking the bags and going up the stairs.

Tony looked away from where Stephen disappeared and looked around the room. It was very cozy and familiar, with several family photos scattered around the room. The brunette smiled and approached one, looking amused at two earth-covered children with huge smiles.

“Hey, Steph, are you here yet? I hope you brought your boyfriend, ”Tony blinked and turned to the door when a teenage girl walked in “you know, the guy that makes you sigh like an-“ the girl stopped when she looked at him, her eyes wide, Tony can feel his own eyes widening and his mouth opening in shock “... Idiot.” She whispered, still staring at him.

Sure, she's older, her dark hair was longer, but Tony could never forget the bright blue eyes of the little girl he'd saved three years ago.

Donna was also staring at the brunette in shock.

"My parents are in town," Stephen's voice echoed down the stairs as he descended “but they should be back soon and-“ the doctor stopped on the stairs, and faced his boyfriend and sister “Did something happen?” He asked worried, going to the two.

"Steph, do you remember when I almost drowned three years ago?" Donna asked, still facing Tony, her savior “Remember how I said I was saved by a boy?”

“Yes” Stephen shuddered, that day was one of the scariest of his life, he was very close to losing his sister “I remember, you said a boy had saved you, got hurt and was taken by the river, me and Victor We came back to look for him after leaving you with our parents, but we didn't find it. Our mother still thinks that you were saved by an angel.”

"Well," Donna smiled and threw herself at the brunette, still staring at her with wide eyes. "I just found my angel!"

\-----

It was a while later that the three of them were in Stephen's room, sitting on the bed, Donna on one end, still staring at Tony in adoration, and Tony and Stephen sitting on the other end, Tony sitting between the doctor's legs. Donna was telling Stephen what had happened that day, how Tony had rescued her, how he had been injured, and how she thought he had died to save her years ago.

Stephen listened in silence, squeezing Tony's waist hard enough to leave marks, his heart chilled with fear as he saw that he might have lost his Tony before he even met him.

"Let me be the first in our family to thank you, my dear," Stephen whispered in the engineer's ear and pulled him closer to his chest. "Thank you for saving my sister."

"Well, I didn't formally thank you, then," Donna smiled before throwing herself at Stark, earning a squeal from him. "Thank you for saving my life!"

Tony felt the comfortable warmth of the Strange brothers' embrace and practically melted against Stephen, smiling softly.

”No need to thank me, I'm glad you're fine.”

\------

Fall

\------

Tony's life was good, he had his new family in the X-Men, he had his friends Rhodey, Pepper and Happy, he had his boyfriend Stephen who would move to New York with him. Despite the workload that came with being the CEO of the company, Tony was happy.

Life was too perfect and he should have really suspected something.

\-----

Tony was 23 when his life began to fall.

“Pepper, have mercy on my soul, I have to read this mountain of papers and sign that one and still get to the medical association event in an hour.” Tony groaned as he heard his office door open and Pepper's heels on the floor toward him. There was a moment of silence and Tony looked away from the paperwork. "Did something happen?" The brunette got up, dropping his pen when he saw the redhead's tense face.

“Tony” Pepper stopped, watching the engineer go around the table and go to her “Tony, I need you to calm down and listen to me.”

“Pepper, what happened?” Tony asked, feeling panic begin to rise in his throat.

“Tony, he'll be fine, don't panic.” The redhead put her hands on the brunette's tense shoulders.

"Pep, you know asking me not to panic when you're worried never works." Tony laughed, half hysterical. “What the hell happened, Pepper? Is it Rhodey? Did something happen to him? He was on a mission and –“

"Tony, James is fine." She looked into his worried eyes and took a deep breath. "It's Stephen."

“Pep, what happened to Stephen?”

“He ... He had an accident, his car overturned and he's in surgery now.”

Tony felt his blood run cold, he didn't hear Pepper's screams as he ran from the living room to his car.

He didn't hear anything else.

\-----

Tony felt his perfect world begin to crumble.

\------

Stephen spent hours in surgery. He had been badly injured by the accident and his beautiful hands had been damaged, but according to the doctor who operated on him, he would fully recover despite the horrible scars.

Tony did not leave the hospital despite requests from his friends. He stayed in the waiting room and when Stephen was moved to a room he took the chair by the bed and stood there waiting for the doctor to wake up.

He still couldn't breathe, a horrible weight in his chest stopping him.

\------

It was only when Stephen woke up and smiled at him, his beautiful stormy eyes conveying love and affection that Tony could finally breathe again.

\-----

Even though he was sure he would heal, Stephen had been different. He had removed everyone around him, his family and his friends. Discreetly, of course, but he was removing. Tony seemed to be the only one Stephen wasn't pushing away.

“Anthony.” Stephen whispered against his neck, holding him gently by the waist.

“I'm making the dinner.” Tony shuddered, releasing the knife he was using.

It had been almost four months since the infamous accident, and Stephen's hands were practically healed, although the scars were still pink, compared to his pale skin, he had recovered from his injuries and had begun physical therapy. .

“As delicious as your food is, what I want to eat now isn't her.” Stephen smiled, watching his boyfriend's face turn a lovely shade of red “What I want to eat now I already have in my arms.”

"Stephen," Tony shuddered, feeling his partner's warm mouth kiss his neck and his hands wriggle into his clothes. “the stove, the food...”

"Don't worry," Stephen muttered, turning off the fire and pulling his love with him, leading him toward the bedroom. "We can eat later, I really need you now." The doctor whispered, holding the engineer by the waist and pressing him against his groin, letting Stark feel how much he wanted him.

Tony sighed as he felt Stephen's hard cock against his ass and turned, grabbing the other by the neck and kissing him feverishly.

“Bedroom.” the engineer whispered and

Stephen happily picked him up.

\----

"You know I love you, don't you, Anthony?" Stephen whispered after they had arrived together, still lying on top of Tony, his hands squeezing the brunette's waist gently “You know I would never leave your side on purpose, right?”

At this, Tony, who was gently scratching the doctor's hair, stopped and looked at his love, worried.

"I know, I love you too, and I'm not leaving your side," Tony whispered back, his hands now reaching for Stephen's cheeks and holding him. "What's going on, Stephen?"

"I ..." Stephen began, but paused for a moment, watching Tony's worried face before squeezing the engineer's waist in comfort. "I need to do something." It's very important.

“What is it?” Tony asked gently, his fingers tracing a thin scar on Stephen's temple.

“I need to go somewhere.”

“I'll go with you.” Tony offered promptly, but the doctor just smiled sadly.

“I need to go alone, my love.” Stephen whispered, hiding his face in Tony's neck.

The brunette didn't respond, he froze, feeling his breath hitch.

Is Stephen breaking up with him? Was that it? Didn't he want him anymore? Was that just a stupid reason Stephen was giving him to try to be kind to him when he pushed him away too?

Tony felt the tears begin to run down his eyes and squeezed the doctor tighter, his hands shaking.

"You ..." Tony swallowed, feeling his voice quiver. “You will...”

Tony did not complete, but the "leave me" was clearly heard.

"I won't leave you, Anthony," Stephen whispered furiously, stepping back and looking the brunette in the eye. "You're mine, I won't leave you unless you want me to leave." The doctor looked lovingly at his lover, wiping. his tears “I don't wanna go, but it's something I need to do.”

“Do you promise to come back?” Tony whispered, shaking hands with the taller one. “For me?”

“For you? Always.”

\-----

Even with the promise to return to him, Stephen left without leaving the brunette a form of contact.

He just left Tony with the uncertainty, one last kiss that seemed too bitter and a promise that Stephen would come back to him one day for Tony to hold on to.

\----

A few months after Stephen left, Tony was working on improvements to his newest pet project, a metal armor he would wear to aid Erik in the X-Men missions, because just not dying is not a very useful power in missions apparently when J.A.R.V.I.S. He warned that the arc reactor in his chest was giving off strange readings.

“Leave it, J., I can't die, remember?” The brunette muttered, returning to his work.

\----

It was only when he woke up on the floor of his lab, with blood around his mouth and aggressive purple lines all over his body that Tony realized he had a problem with the reactor.

However, the brunette just ignored it, pulling the faulty reactor out of his chest and putting in a new one before starting work on a new protocol for J.A.R.V.I.S..

\----

Tony couldn't help but see how appropriate it was for him to die several times from a heart problem when he felt his heart was breaking and

destroyed in his chest.

\----

“Tony, this is your new assistant, Natalia Rushiman.” Pepper introduced Tony to a beautiful redhead one day in his office.

The brunette looked up from the papers he was reading before looking at Pepper with confusion.

“I don't need a new assistant, Pepper, no offense, Miss Rushiman.” Tony bowed his head to the redhead in apology, but the other just looked at him blankly.

“I'm going to the convention in Vienna with Happy and I'm going to spend two months away, you know you're going to need extra help, don't try to deny it.” Pepper raised an eyebrow at him and Tony just sighed, giving in.

“Very well,” the young billionaire began, before turning to the other “hi, Miss Rushiman, nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Stark.” She gave him a seductive smile and Tony had the impression that he shouldn't trust her.

\----

“... That's why HammerTech's security technology is much more superior than Stark! Did you hear that, Stark? My technology is better and you can bring yours to face me, I will destroy you!”

Tony looked at the television for a moment, watching Justin Hammer's technology conference when he introduced the new combat drones that clearly had software problems .

“Sir, you have a call from the secretary of defense, should I pass it on?” the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. caught his eye and Tony sighed, feeling a migraine approach.

“Send it, J.”

\-----

Between his strange and scary new assistant, Natalie, his seemingly endless problems with the government and his certainly endless problems with Justin Hammer, Tony didn't have time to investigate the arc reactor problems, so he just touched the cores periodically, much to the chagrin of JARVIS.

\-----

He didn't have to worry too much, because Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., after sending a damn spy to investigate him (damn, Natasha for Natalie, really? They were so without creativity), gave him his father's old files and Tony was able to solve the problem by creating the Starkanium.

\-----

“Is your name really Natalie?” Tony asked, looking at the redhead standing in the middle of his office curiously “Don't get me wrong, but I expected more spies, you know” in this the brunette put both hands together and made a "gun" with his fingers, before making an expression would be and lean against the wall “ ... Spies.”

Natalie looked at him blankly.

“I can kill you with bare hands.”

“Eh, I don't doubt it.” Tony shrugged, before straightening up and smiling.

“... You knew I was a spy.” the redhead concluded, after a moment of silence “That's why you insisted on taking care of almost all the paperwork.”

“I suspected, actually” Tony said, throwing himself in his chair and moaning when he saw the paperwork on his desk “I hate doing paperwork, but I couldn't put the company at risk, I have a lot of people who work for me, and that could be dangerous for them.”

“... You are not what I imagined.” the redhead concluded, sitting on the chair in front of the brunette.

“And what were you waiting for? I'm a very eccentric guy, from what I've been told.”

“You are young, and you own the biggest technology company in the world and you are so...” Natalie stopped, before sighing.

“Strange? You don't have to state the obvious, Natalie.”

They were both silent, the only noises that could be heard in the room were the pen on the paper and the silent breaths.

The redhead looked at him for a moment and threw an envelope in front of the brunette. Tony raised an eyebrow.

”My resignation letter.” the redhead spoke before getting up and walking to the door.

“Too bad, Natalie, I was thinking about inviting you to the weekly movie marathon with Pep and Rhodey this weekend.” Tony sighed.

“It's Natasha.” the redhead corrected silently and left the room.

Tony looked at the door for a moment before opening the envelope and seeing a small piece of paper with a scrawled number on it.

\----

"Rhodey, Pep, this is my new super spy friend, Nat." Tony smiled.

Nat, Pepper and Rhodey raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I certainly didn't expect that.” Pepper shook his head, offered his hand to Natasha “I imagine we already met, but I have to talk, hurt Tony and I will hurt you, super spy or not.”

“It was my mission, so I'm not going to apologize” Natasha shrugged, but shook Pepper's hand “but I'm not going to hurt him.”

\----

After all the confusion with Nick Fury and Natasha Romanov, Tony sincerely hoped he wouldn't see the man with the strange eye patch again (Nat was ok, although scary, the spy was pretty cool.)

\----

Tony raised his eyebrow and read the report that was written right above "Tony Stark / Iron Man: Recommended", then he looked at the man with the eye patch sitting in his kitchen.

“Do I already have a super hero name, even after only two missions with the X-men? But I'm not complaining, Iron Man is a nice name.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D would like to recruit Iron Man for the Avengers Initiative.”

“Avengers Initiative?”

Nick Fury smiled.

\----

Tony's life got a lot more complicated after he added the Avengers to the mix, but if it were for people's safety, Tony wouldn't have it any other way.

\----

Hell

\----

Tony cursed all his life choices when the electric blond (_Pikachu_?) Electrocuted him and he died.

Blessed be J.A.R.V.I.S. and its protocols.

\----

"Gods, of course they had to be alien gods" Tony thought, barely suppressing the urge to hit his head on the table when Thor explained the great pain in his ass that his brother, Loki, was.

\----

“Take off the armor, what are you?” Steve Rogers, Captain America, spat as he looked at him with contempt.

“Genius, millionaire, philanthropist, and oh, the guy who built the armor, what do you think?” Tony snarled, annoyed. As much as he was internally intimidated by the mountain of muscles over two meters high, he was a Stark and Starks were not intimidated.

“I know people who would give twenty of you!”

"Well, at least everything I am came from myself, what was it like to be a lab rat, Rogers? It was fun?”

Stephen always said that he could be a little shit when he wanted to.

\-----

“Rogers, I know you don't like me, but I need you to hit the damn button!” Tony shouted in the communicators of his helmet, feeling the giant propellers start to creak.

“There are many enemies, Stark, I cannot press your buttons now, you will have to wait!” Captain America raged, fighting hordes of enemies.

“Rogers! This is not something I can-“ Tony stopped, watching the propellers start to move – “Ah, fuck.”

\-----

Of all the times Tony died, the Helicaner propeller had definitely been the most painful and most unpleasant of all so far.

\-----

“Hey, Thor,” Tony called, when the god took the tesseract and started walking over to where his brother was “does your brother seem less crazy or is it just me?”

“What do you mean, friend Stark?” Thor paused for a moment and looked at Tony, frowning.

“When I faced him, his eyes were blue, blue like the arc reactor and” then Tony pointed discreetly at the tesseract “blue like this.”

Thor looked at Tony thoughtfully for a moment, before nodding to himself.

“Thanks for the info, friend Stark.”

\-----

"You may have prevented the destruction of the city, Stark, but you are still a cannon fodder, at best." Rogers narrowed his eyes at Stark, oblivious to the faces that some agents were sending him

“You are not Howard, and I don't need a wildcard on my team, even though he is a Stark.”

\-------

Tony and Steve Rogers didn't get along, it was no secret, but Tony was surprised that Captain America didn't want him on his team even painted gold.

Tony really shouldn't have been surprised by that.

\-----

“Rogers, you are the leader, but the team is mine, Tony Stark will be part of the Avengers.” Fury decreed, cold and direct, his single eye burning a hole in Rogers.

“I admire you, Fury, but I'm the leader and I don't want Tony Stark on my team!” Steve looked at the spy stubbornly and Fury had to scratch himself so as not to shoot the super soldier.

“Never mind, Nick.” Tony, who was sitting in a chair looking at everything coldly “If the laboratory mouse doesn't want me on the team, well, I never forced my way on people who don't like me.” in this, the brunette gives his most unpleasant smile to the blonde, who looks at him with cruel satisfaction.

“You will not force your way on this team with money, Stark, you are not a team player and you have no space on my team.”

Tony didn't want to admit it, but it had hurt.

“I won't be part of your team, little mouse, but Nick, if you wanted the Stark tower for the avengers headquarters, forget it. It's my tower and I don't want any rats inside it.”

“Are you that stingy, Stark? Harm the team because we won't let you buy us?” Rogers looked sick, but Tony just stared at him coldly.

“Hey, I think you got it wrong, little mouse.” Tony got up and started walking towards the door “Nat, Bruce and Clint can visit me, hell, they can even live there, the only banned is you, after all, rats usually give birth and are very bad to exterminate later.”

\------

As much as Tony is younger and Steve Rogers is the damn Captain America, he was a Stark and student of Erik and, if there's one thing he learned from his father and his mentor, it was never to bow his head over what he it was.

He was a fucking Stark, and Starks didn't bow his head to anyone.

Fuck Steve Rogers, Tony doesn't need him, he has his own family to help him keep the world safe.

\----

After a while, Tony's life returned to a considerably normal pace, Bruce, Nat and Clint came to live with him in the Avengers Tower, he was creating armor for Rhodey (War Machine) so that they would be together in combat and Fury , even with all the unnecessary confusion that Rogers was making, he still put Tony as a consultant to the Avengers, despite knowing that Tony was a fixed member of the X-Mens and that he would not join a team with Steve Rogers as leader.

No fucking way.

\-----

Tony really should have suspected when everything was so calm.

\-----

Tony was in his lab when his communicator started to ring. Tony makes a face, but he picks up anyway.

“If the alarm did not sound, it is because there is no emergency and if there is no emergency, why are you calling me?”

“Sorry, man” Clint's voice sounded and Tony could almost see the other's expression of apology “but Cap wants the team to go on a mission to destroy a Hydra base.”

“And he wants me to go?” Tony raised an eyebrow. Rogers, if possible, never calls Tony on missions (More damage than helps, he said) and he was too tired, having not slept in three days, to deal with this shit.

“No, but the team wants you there, Cap may be a good strategist, but he is an idiot for dispensing good air support like you.”

“I'm going, then.” no matter how tired he was, one Hydra base was never too much, and they were without Thor, so the second best heavyweight, which was him, is necessary on the field “I'll put on the armor, I'll meet you there.”

\-----

Tony had always been a protocols person, from protocols to avoid his drunk father as a child, to protocols he used to help him in his daily life, so it was no surprise to anyone that his AI, J.A.R.V.I.S., had several protocols for several types of situations.

From protocols to make his coffee the way he liked every morning to protocols for when he died on missions, then when he was impaled by several magical red tentacles, his impending death was the last thing on his mind (J. was going to take care of everything, he always took care).

In fact, he was more concerned with the fact that the woman who impaled him was strangely like Wendy, the daughter of Erik and Charles.

“I hope you enjoy your slow and painful death, Stark.” She spat at him and left, leaving Tony bleeding terribly on the floor.

Despite the injuries and the worrying loss of blood, the witch did not hit him in vital points, she hit him on the left shoulder (the source of most of the blood), opening a hole the size of his fist, and a non-fatal tear, but decidedly painful at his waist.

Tony winced and shivered in pain.

“Slow and painful in fact.” The brunette grunted, laying his head on the concrete floor. During the attack, his helmet had been destroyed, but his armor was still relatively well, not to mention the obvious damage “Huh, J., is it better if I try to save myself or is it better to die soon and be done with it?”

“By my calculations, sir, you can try to save yourself, but the healing process would take time, you would be gone for at least three months.” the A.I. explained, before stopping.

Tony blew out a painful breath.

“But?” He insisted.

“As recommended as it is to activate the “Baby kill me” protocol, you should try to save yourself, sir, I can contact the X-Men and request reinforcement.”

“Try, huh...” Tony muttered thoughtfully. JARVIS, as much as he placed an incredible total of zero protocols or security measures for his own life, was strangely protective and did not like to execute the protocols that would result in Tony's death, however temporary it might be – “Well, call Erik and-“ Tony stops, listening to interference from his communicator and he remembers why he was at an abandoned Hydra base in the first place.

“J., the communicator!”

Tony demands and then after a few moments, Clint's voice comes up.

“Hey, tin head, weren't you working with Bruce in armor to hold the Hulk?” the archer's voice seemed desperate and Tony feels his own despair rise “So, we will need it now, the Hulk has gone crazy and is going to the nearest town in a homicidal mood!”

“J.A.R.V.I.S., the Hulkbuster, now!” Tony snarled and, with a grunt of pain, he rose painfully slowly and activated his thrusters, which for some blessing, were still working, and went towards the coordinates that Nat sent him.

He could do anything later, now he had an enraged Hulk to take down.

\-----

”COME ON, BRUCIE, IT'S TIME TO SLEEP!” Tony exclaimed, when he managed to propel himself with the furious Hulk into the forest, far from the city. He managed to prevent the Hulk from destroying the city a lot, but he was unable to prevent the destruction of some buildings, and he hoped that Nat and the others would be able to save people.

The Hulk roared when he tried to break free of Tony's iron grip, but Stark snarled and squeezed harder, several red alerts and error warnings started flashing on his screen.

“Sir, it is highly recommended that you leave combat now, the integrity of the armor is compromised, you-!”

“I know, J.A.R.V.I.S., you don't have to tell me, I have several colorful alerts on my screen saying exactly- SHIT!” suddenly, the Hulk caught him by the leg, spun him and threw him against several trees, before Tony crashed into a rock and fell to the ground.

The Stark stayed on the floor, his body practically screaming in agony, when he felt practically all of his wounds opening and his bones breaking with the impact. Tony thought about trying to get up, but the shock of pain that went through his body effectively left him on the floor.

The brunette then heard the Hulk roar furiously and felt the ground tremble as the angry green monster ran towards him. Tony didn't try to take it again, he knew the Hulkbuster was damaged and he was terribly injured, so young Stark just closed his eyes and waited.

Of all the times he knew he was going to die, Tony honestly didn't want to die by turning over the Hulk's personal punching bag.

‘Well, before I that the people of the city’

However, after a while, nothing hit him. Tony opened his eyes and blinked, stunned by the image in front of him.

The Hulk was floating in a strange bubble with a familiar yellow figure on his back.

"Wh-what ..." he stammered, disoriented.

“You know, when Magneto told us that you were problematic with all capital letters and bright, I thought he was exaggerating.” a woman with a lock of white hair appears in Tony's field of vision and he blinks, his injuries, finally taking the toll on his body. He blinked his eyes sleepily, and felt his conscience start to fade “Hey, brat, stay awake! Jean, I need help here!”

It was okay, the X-Men were here.

Erik was here.

Tony heard hasty footsteps and felt a hand on his head.

So he didn't feel anything else.

\----

When Tony woke up, he felt pain. A lacerating pain that radiated from his shoulder and waist to the rest of his body. The brunette felt tears welling in his eyes and tried to move, only to sob when the pain got stronger.

Make the pain stop!

Somebody stop the pain, please!

Somebody do it!

Then, soft hands pushed him back, but his body was still burning and it hurt, please stop!

“The morphine! Hank!”

Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! _Makeitstopmakeitstop**makeitstop-**_

Then Tony started to feel lethargic and he didn't know any more.

\----

“Erik.” he can hear his lover's soft voice calling him, but he couldn't look away from his student, lying on a bed, fighting for his life.

As much as he couldn't technically die.

“I know what you're going to say, Charles, but I can't let it go, not this time.” Erik growled “I understand that you are a pacifist, but ... I can't do that. Not anymore.”

“I never said we would let this go, Erik” the taller turned to the other, a little surprised “we also worry about Tony, and the way things are with the Avengers are ...” he nodded “Also I'm angry.”

“What do we do?” Erik asked, taking Charles's hand and squeezing it “I won't wait any longer, I won't stand still while a member of my family suffers.”

“Well, first, we need to talk to Nick Fury.”

\-----

Sometimes Tony tended to forget that he was not alone, that he needed to face the world with a serious face and put up with every blow he gave him.

Sometimes Tony forgot that he had a family that was so fiercely protective of him that he was willing to destroy the world if that meant he was safe and happy.

\-----

When Tony woke up again, he was no longer in pain. His body was limp and he was terribly sleepy, but the pain was gone and he could cry in relief.

He tried to get up, but a warm hand gently pushed him back onto the bed.

“Calm down, Tones, you got beaten up pretty well, lie down, you idiot.”

“Rhodey?” Tony groaned, turning to his best friend, who was looking at him worried “The Hulk!” the brunette exclaimed, trying to get up again, only to be contained by Rhodey “Did you guys manage to contain the Hulk ?!”

“Of course, Jean and Logan calmed him right after you fell, but that's not important, you almost died, Tony, Died!” Rhodey looked desperate and Tony was confused for a moment.

“But if I die it will be okay.” Tony blinked, staring at Rhodey who was deathly silent for a few seconds, before staring at Tony, furious.

“How dare you say that ?!” Rhodey shouted “If you die, how are we, you idiot? And me and Pepper? What about Stephen? How do you think we would be if you died?!”

“Rhod-“

"No," Rhodey interrupted him angrily, "if you think so little about your life, I will organize an intervention." Rhodey looks at him seriously and pulls out his cell phone.

“Rhodey, it's okay, you don't have to bother Pepper and Donna with this!” Tony exclaimed, trying to understand why Rhodey is still angry.

“Don't you dare say it's okay when you just told me it would be okay if you died Anthony.” Rhodey looked deathly serious and Tony winced when he looked at him, his brain drugged with morphine and drugs still not rationing properly.

“But if I die, won't I come back anyway? So why-“ in that the brunette stops, finally understanding the problem “Oh.”

Rhodey did not know about his mutation.

“_What_.” Rhodey narrowed his eyes, his dark eyes staring at Tony in the same way that Roberta Rhodes stared at him when he was a skinny kid who entered too early in M.I.T. and that he did something wrong, and not the twenty-five-year-old businessman he was.

“I can explain?”

\-----

“... So that's it, it's not that I don't care about my life, I just can't die.” Tony stammered, looking nervously between Rhodey and Pepper, who looked at him blankly.

The three were in Tony's room at Charles's school. A week had passed since the battle, Tony had been unconscious for six days, and yesterday when he woke up, he could be transferred with the help of Hank, Logan and Scott to his room. The X-Men visited him, but of the Avengers, only Nat and Clint texted him, not that he was surprised, but Bruce's cold shoulder hurt more than his wounds.

These questions were in the back of his mind as he looked anxiously between his two best friends.

The silence, however, had not been broken, making Tony more nervous.

“Please say something.” the brunette whimpered, looking at his two oldest friends with apprehension “I- I'm sorry that I never told any of this to you, I know I lied, when I promised never to lie to you, but-“ Tony's chattering was interrupted when Pepper got up and sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug “Pep?”

“Do you think we would hate you for something like that, you idiot?” Pepper hugs him tighter “Of course not.”

“You are family, Tones, mutant or not, you are still our little brother.” Rhodey completed, going to the two and hugging them tightly “To be honest, I'm glad you have that power,” the colonel opens a small smile for his best friend “without him, we could have lost you more than that I'm comfortable with if you want to think.”

Tony looked at his two best friends in the world and felt tears well up in his eyes.

“... Thanks.”

\-----

“You don't want to tell anyone?” Rhodey asked as he finished getting Tony ready for bed.

“Not me- ouch!” the brunette stops and whines when Rhodey places the gauze over the wound on his waist.

At least the bandages from the shoulder wound have already been changed, small blessings.

"Don't be a baby, Tones," Rhodey smiled, but cleaned the cut as gently as he could “why don't you want to tell anyone?”

“I ...” Tony stopped for a moment, making a face “I don't know, something always told me not to tell anyone.”

“Is that why you never told us anything?” Pepper asked, leaving the bathroom now wearing a big air force shirt and shorts, going to bed and sitting next to Rhodey.

“Yes, I don't know how to explain it, but...” Tony shrugged, without giving anything else because he didn't understand himself.

The three were silent, with Rhodey finishing wrapping Tony with Pepper's help and, when he finished, put everything away while Pepper lay down next to Tony and started stroking his fluffy brown hair.

“If you don't want to, we won't tell.” Rhodey said when he lay on the other side of Tony and Pepper nodded silently.

Tony couldn't love his friends any more.

\-----

“You shouldn't have gone toe to toe with the Hulk” Natasha scolded him when she and Clint came to visit him two days later “he could have killed you, Antoshika.”

“When I told you to get armor, I thought J.A.R.V.I.S. would control, not that you would be inside the armor.” Clint said, looking terribly guilty.

“Hey, it's okay, I'm a Stark and Starks are made of iron, it takes more than a furious Hulk to bring me down.” Tony smiled at them arrogantly and Clint laughs “Speaking of Hulk, where's Bruce? He is fine?”

“He is very upset because he hurt you” Nat speaks with a sigh “he thinks he is not welcome here.”

“Of course he is welcome!” Tony exclaimed, indignant “He is my incredible science bro, why the hell wouldn't he be welcome?” Tony pouts and turns to Clint “You're going to say he's welcome, aren't you, bird man?”

“Sure, tin head.” Clint shakes his head with a smile.

\-----

“Why can't I go back to my tower?” Tony asked, turning his face to Rhodey, who was sitting in an armchair beside his bed.

Rhodey just arches an eyebrow and looks at Tony.

“Wow, Tones, I can't imagine why.” Rhodey grumbles sarcastically “Maybe it's because you are still soaking in bed because you almost turned into puree in the hands of the Hulk, you iron idiot.”

Tony had the decency to cringe when the colonel narrowed his eyes at him.

“I mean, wouldn't it be more practical?” Stark continued, avoiding the eyes of his best friend “You and Pep would not need to stay away from work to come and visit me, and in the tower I can hunt down the killer robot and the crazy twins that made the Hulk take down Johannesburg.”

It had been four days since Tony woke up and told his two best friends about his mutation. Rhodey was still with him, but Pepper had to go out and fix some things at S.I., the young Stark, however, was still in the X mansion and had no plans to leave anytime soon.

He couldn't work to look for Ultron or Hydra because he was still injured and he also couldn't use his "powers" to leave early, because according to Erik "learn to have some damn respect for your own life, you brat."

“You speak as if it was very difficult for me and Pep to visit you, we are still in New York, you gremlin,” Rhodey looks at his younger brother and sighs “and you really expect me to let you go to the tower? You have to rest.”

“I can't stand here!” Tony exclaims, the frustration of standing for days while he had work to do finally showing up, moving his arms, trying to get out of bed “We have to defeat Ultron! What if it does more damage? I do not-“

“You have to rest, Tony” Rhodey gently pushes the other back into bed “I know it's almost a death sentence for you to soak in a bed, but you have to heal yourself, the world won't fall apart because you took a few days off.”

“I have to help others” Tony whispers “what if they need me on the field?”

“So they have me, War Machine, it's an aerial support as good as Iron Man, you brat.”

“I don't want you to get hurt if you are alone on a mission.” Tony finally confesses after a few moments in silence and Rhodey smiles softly at him.

“And who said I will be alone?”

“Rhodey, Rogers has a tendency to hate everything that is remotely related to me.” Tony made a face. “I think between saving a villain and you, he would choose the villain for you.”

“It is good that I will be working with Erik and his team and not with him, right?”

\-----

As Tony would soon discover, Erik, the Magneto, was a force to be reckoned with, especially when members of his family got hurt because of mistakes made by stupid people like Steve Rogers.

Now, lying in bed, watching Rhodey and Kurt, the Notuno, playing video games and laughing like old friends, Tony felt peace. Although he was still all broken, he was, for the first time in a long time, unconcerned, because Erik was taking care of everything with Charles and he could finally rest, this time.

\------

He really, really, should have realized that that peace was nothing but the eye of the storm.

\-----

“Hey, how are you feeling, tin head?” Clint asks, entering Tony's room, smiling happily.

Tony looks at him in horror.

“What the hell happened to you ?!” he exclaims, seeing the archer's left arm stuck in a sling and the thick bandages that covered his left eye.

“Ah, that?” the archer waves to his injuries with disdain while sitting in the chair next to the engineer “Nah, don't worry about it, Ultron's troops only gave a little more work than usual today, and with the terrorist twins not listening to orders that other than Cap, things are going south faster than I’m comfortable with sometimes.”

“Ultron again?” Tony made a face, watching the archer let out a painful sigh when he sat down “Are you sure you don't want me to help? Can I ask J. to look for him and-“ he stops for a second, listening, finally listening to what Clint was saying “Wait, what terrorist twins?”

“Yes, you know, the twins who almost fucked up in Johannesburg.” Clint gives an irritated sigh, but Tony can't pay much attention, he is staring at the archer in shock “I'm not very happy to work with them, as much as Cap says they are good people, they were the cause of incident in Johannesburg and why the government is on our butt more than usual.”

“Wait.” Tony asked, closing his eyes is not possible, Rogers did not do this, he thought, desperately “Are we talking about the same twins that made the Hulk go crazy in Johannesburg? The same?”

“Yes.” Clint looked somber when he spoke, the joy and joviality disappearing from him, leaving only a tense and dark tiredness “The same twins who hate you and put you here, too.”

\----

Steve Rogers was a strange person, not only because he was completely against any interaction of Tony with the team from the beginning, even when Tony had not given the other reason for all this distrust and contempt, the golden boy of america still hated him with all the fibers made in the laboratory of his body.

Tony, however, never thought that Rogers would put Hydra agents on the team to hunt down Hydra herself and the homicidal robot they created.

(Then, lying in a pool of his own blood in a bunker, Tony could only laugh and laugh when he finally understood.)

\-----

Tony was never a very patient person and, according to Erik and his family, he was never a person who cared much for his own well-being.

So it was no surprise that, just a day after Clint's visit, when Tony finally found himself alone in his room in the big mansion (The X-Men were with Rhodey, hunting Ultron with the avengers and Pepper was in Shanghai for a business trip), he crawled out of bed with a groan.

“J., I need you to prepare Mark XX for me, then scan your entire network and then close your main server on Maria Island.”

“Sir, it is highly recommended that you stay where-“

“J.A.R.V.I.S., I will not stand still while there is a homicidal robot made with my technology leveling cities for fun! “Tony exclaimed, gritting his teeth in pain, as he dragged himself to where his armor was “It doesn't matter, J., your backups, how are they?”

“The last backup was made at 23: 05hrs on the twenty-seventh of this month. The backups are safe on the island's servers.”

“Great, J., I need you to close all possible Wi-Fi connections to the island and then disconnect.”

“Sir, I can't do that.” the A.I. voice looked terrified “No, I can't let you go to this fight alone, I-“

“And I can't lose you, J.” Tony cut him softly, when he finally reached his laboratory, crawling to a terminal and typing as fast as his injuries left him “we both know that if he takes over the tower systems or the mansion, he will assimilate you, and I will not let you.”

“Sir, please-!”

“Sorry, J., I'll be back to call you again, I promise, okay?” with a last touch, Tony observed the J.A.R.V.I.S. go off and he's safe, finally safe from Ultron.

It hurt for Tony to turn off J., but he wasn't going to risk one of his best friends.

\-----

When Tony died, shot in the head, courtesy of one of Ultron's robots, after appearing on the battlefield in Sokovia, just two hours after he turned off J.A.R.V.I.S., he was relieved.

At least the pain in his body was going to stop and he could concentrate.

\----

With the help of the X-Men and the android called Vision, the Avengers managed to defeat Ultron and his army after a long and exhausting battle.

However, the city of Sokovia was completely destroyed and many people died.

Tony felt he couldn't save anyone, even with Charles's soft whispers and Erik's hand on his shoulder as a consolation.

\-----

Of course, Tony was also not prepared for the complete hate look that Steve Rogers threw at him. Stark felt that if he were in a room alone with the captain, he would kill him in the blink of an eye.

That didn't stop Tony from arguing with the other, of course, he had never been afraid of dying from death before, so nothing that Rogers did to him would shake him.

Besides, Tony had a few words to give the blonde about the new members.

\-----

“What the hell do you fucking think you are doing?” Tony snarled at Rogers, furious, the injuries he won in the battle of Sokovia forgotten momentarily “They are Hydra! Fucking Hydra agents! You are so stupid as to call Hydra agents for our fucking team-“ suddenly, the soldier's fist connects with your face and Tony almost falls to the ground by the force of the impact.

“Shut up, you have no right to talk about Wanda and Pietro like that! Especially when it was your killer robot that killed all those people and it was your missile that killed their parents!” - The blonde shouted and Tony looked at him furiously.

“The fucking killer robot wasn't mine! He stole my technology, you stupid bastard!”

“He had your name on it! Your! How dare you say it wasn't your fault?”””

“Because it wasn't,damn! What part of "he stole my technology" your tiny steroid-filled brain still don't understand ?!”

“Wanda told me how you did business with Hydra, Stark, do you think I don't know?”The soldier looked at the brunette maliciously.

“Oh, of course, the poor guys told you.” Tony growled, taking a step forward, menacingly “They are Hydra, you stupid lab rat, will you believe them?!”

“I trust them more than you! The team trusts them more than you!” In that, Stark retreated, as if he had been hit.

That Steve Rogers hated his guts and hated him was no surprise, but the team? It hurt more than Tony was willing to admit.

“Well, if they stay on the team I will leave!” Tony felt like crossing his arms, but his injured left arm stopped him “And you will never put them on the team, Clint, Bruce and Nat don't like them as much as I do.”

“Clint and Nat accepted the Maximoffs on the team and Bruce ran away, so they are already on the team, since _the official members_ voted, we don't need a _consultant_ voting on things the team needs to vote on.” The blonde looked at Tony with contempt and opened a small malicious smile “And well, between having the twins on the team in exchange for you, I have to say, it's a great deal. All members agreed.”

“... Very well.” Tony murmured quietly, the helmet closing over his head, hiding the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

It hurt, it hurt a lot. Hearing that the team would dismiss him so easily hurt.

"Here's a tip, Stark," Rogers said when Tony turned and started to walk away –“stop trying to be a hero when you're clearly _not one_.”

\----

Perhaps, if Tony was in the right frame of mind, he doubted Steve Rogers in the last talk they had before Tony moved away from the avengers permanently.

Unfortunately, that was right after all the destruction of Sokovia and after many deaths that Tony was sure was his fault.

So Tony, instead of thinking calmly about it, just turned and walked away, broken, accepting Captain America's words as true.

\-----

** _"You have 157 missed calls and 149 unread messages."_ **

The brunette looked at the screen of his cell phone with a lost and empty expression. There was a gun in his other hand and an ominously large pool of blood around him.

The phone vibrated in his hand and he held it until it stopped, before opening his voicemail and playing the first message.

_“Tony, for God's sake, answer the damn phone! We will solve everything! Please do not-!"_

Tony stopped the message and dropped the phone on the floor, before taking the gun with a trembling hand to his mouth and placing the barrel between his lips.

Stark tried to pull the trigger, but he didn't move. When he was going to try again, the gun floated out of his mouth and away from his trembling fingers. The brunette followed the gun with empty eyes and saw it stop in front of a shadowy figure at the bedroom door, before it dismounted right in front of him, the parts of the gun spreading across the dark room.

"Didn't Charles say you should have more respect for your life, you brat?"

“... Erik...”

\----

When Tony woke up, he felt his chest burning, and it had nothing to do with the reactor that was still housed there or with injuries.

When Tony woke up, it wasn't the physical pain that made him shed painful tears.

\----

When he woke Rhodey with his pathetic sobs, the colonel just pulled him into a hug, as he did every time he saw Tony crying, in those years ago at M.I.T ..

\----

“I'll kill him.” Erik whispered darkly as he looked at Tony, huddled in James Rhodey's arms, looking smaller and more fragile, with sobs breaking through his body.

“We finally agree with something.” Logan murmured, his expression closed and as dark as Erik's.

“I understand the feelings, but we need to be calm.” Charles spoke, his voice always calm with a strained streak and with an icy fury that did not used to be there “Let's go out, Tony needs to rest and I'm sure Colonel Rhodes can take care of him.”

\----

A week after his fight with Steve Rogers, Tony officially surrendered his resignation to a surprise Maria Hill and went to a hidden apartment in a building in Queens.

He couldn't say whether he was more relieved or saddened that none of his former teammates tried to contact him.

\----

**Peace**

\----

Seven months after his resignation from the Avengers, Tony was in his new personal laboratory in his new home, working on a new I.A., F.R.I.D.A.Y., to assist Rhodey in his missions as War Machine.

The brunette yawned and stretched just after putting the last line on F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s code.

“J., check F.R.I.’s code, I want to know if everything is functional.” Tony let out another yawn, grabbing the nearest cup of coffee, making a face when he saw that it was cold.

“Running the scan.” the robotic voice of his I.A. echoed through the lab and Tony turned his face to the holographic screen that J.A.R.V.I.S raised.

“Everything is going ok,” the brunette murmured, before getting up “J., finish the scan and send the results to me when I'm done, I'll go out and buy donuts.”

\----

Tony was just leaving his favorite donut shop (donuts always made his day better. Anything sweet, actually) when he heard screams and shots coming from just a few blocks away.

The brunette dropped the candy box on the floor and activated his gauntlets and boots, flying to the commotion.

\----

“H-Hey, it's going to be okay, I promise.” Tony whispered to the brunette girl with curly hair crying in his arms.

In the background, it was possible to see two black tarps covering two bodies on the floor.

\-----

“What will happen to the child?” Tony asked the social worker, Sylvia Brett, who was at his side, watching the child, Riri Williams, who was staring at the floor with a lost and wrong expression for a six year old.

Brett sighed before answering.

“She's going to the orphanage. The two fatal victims in the shooting were her parents and she has no family left. Being very honest with you, Mr. Stark, Riri's life will be very difficult from now on, many people do not want to adopt older children and with such an emotional charge.” She concluded, looking sadly at the child.

Tony turned and looked at the child when she looked at him, her brown eyes radiating such overwhelming sadness and hopelessness, as if she knew that what she was going through now would be hell.

But he also saw an intelligence shine, hidden by all this sadness and cannot fail to see how similar he and Riri were.

The brunette closed his eyes, trapped in indecision.

“Mr Stark?” social worker called him, when he sighed and looked at her seriously.

“How can I adopt her?”

\---

If Tony was honest with himself, he didn't adopt the child out of pity.

No, he adopted her because he found himself in that same situation, orphaned and intelligent, feeling alone in the world.

And he didn’t want her to have to go through what he went through to find people she can trust.

\---

“I leave you alone for three days and you appear to me with a six year old child?”

Rhodey looked at his best friend, who was sitting in the living room, with a Riri sleeping on his lap, several toys scattered and with Finding Nemo passing on the TV screen in disbelief and Tony looked sideways shyly.

“I couldn't leave her, okay?” Tony grunted “She was going to the system and was going to get lost there, I won't let that happen.” The brunette looked tenderly at the child, stroking her head while she slept.

Rhodey just stared at Tony for a few seconds, his face expressionless.

“You ... You already adopted her as your daughter, didn't you, mama bear?”

“Shut up!”

\----

"You could at least have told me you were going to adopt a child, Tony." Pepper sighed and Tony winced.

“I didn't plan to adopt her, but I don't regret it.” Tony murmured, looking at Riri and Rhodey, on the floor, riding the little toy plane “I mean, I don't sleep as much as I used to and now I have to eat at regular times because she only eats when I'm going to eat, but i love her.” the brunette admitted.

Tony adopted Riri a week ago and she officially became his daughter. The nights were still very difficult, Riri awake crying, watching her parents being killed in front of her, but Tony was always there to offer comfort to his daughter.

“I can see now what James meant. Pepper smiled and Tony looked at her confused.”

“Huh?”

“You are totally a “mama bear”, although I think “iron mama” suits you better.”

“Pepper!” Tony wailed, his face red.

Pepper just laughed.

\----

“Mr Stark?” Riri's timid voice echoed through his laboratory and Tony turned, seeing the child at the door.

“Honey, you don't have to call me “Mr. Stark”, Tony is fine.” Tony smiled, encouraging the child to come to him, practically melting when she shyly walked towards him, looking at his laboratory with admiration “My laboratory is very cool, isn't it?”

"It's so shiny and full of cool stuff," Riri murmured, looking at the Iron Man's armor from a distance.

“Want to see what I'm working on?” Tony asked happily and the child practically vibrated, her shyness forgotten when she saw all the science and technology in front of her.

“Yes!”

\----

The first time Riri called him "daddy", a year and a half after he adopted her, Tony was in the clouds for weeks, much to the amusement of his friends.

\----

Even without Stephen, without the Avengers, Tony was fine. He had a wonderful daughter and as smart as he was, he had the family that never left him at the X-Mens, he had his friends, Rhodey and Pepper, so everything was fine.

Sure, his chest still hurt when he thought about Stephen, if his doctor had forgotten about him after almost four years apart, but Tony had always been a fool for believing in people and still strongly believed that Stephen would come back to him one day, then he could take it.

Everything was calm and well and Tony was happy.

\----

Of course, Tony should have suspected when everything was very calm and happy.

\----

**Hell**

\---

Tony looked at the papers in front of him and sighed, feeling the tiredness on his sagging shoulders.

Fury looked at him, his only eye expressionless.

“I can't hold it anymore, it will come out, and when it comes out, it won't be pretty.”

“It was Lagos, wasn't it?” Tony asked, feeling his head throb.

“Not only Lagos, but yes, Lagos was the main one.” Fury confirmed and Tony sighed.

“They hate me, they will never hear me.”

“That's why I called you, to make a plan.”

\-----

“Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?” Rhodey asked, looking at his best friend with concern.

In the background, Pepper and Happy distract his daughter, Riri.

“Yes.” Tony said, decided “It will be a storm of political shit, I prefer that you stay here taking care of Riri and Pep with Happy.”

“You shouldn't have to deal with this alone, we should help each other.”

“No, as I said, I prefer you here, and Erik and Charles are already very busy taking care of the Maximoffs.”

After lakes, Charles was very aggressive in taking the Maximoff twins from the hands of Rogers and the Avengers, now the two were in the mansion, with the others.

“How the hell are we helping by running away? Rhodey snarled and Tony smiled.”

“You are protecting my daughter, and I would not entrust this task to anyone else.”

\-----

Rhodey did not argue and, even reluctantly, he went with the others to the hidden island of Maria, leaving Tony with the X-Men and Fury to deal with the whole situation.

\----

Tony hoped to be able to settle everything simply and quickly with Charles, Erik and Fury, but when he entered the meeting room and everyone looked at him with suspicion or disdain, deep down, Tony knew something very bad was going to happen.

\------

Now, lying in a pool of his own blood in a bunker in Siberia, with the video of his parents' murder playing in the background, Tony laughed. He laughed and laughed until he was out of breath, and then started to sob.

For a moment, Tony wondered if he would be slow to die this time, but he thinks not, because Rogers hit him hard enough to sink his reactor into his chest.

He closed his eyes, feeling numb.

The cold was consuming the pain and he was at peace for the first time after he met with his ex-companions again.

The fact that it was because he was dying in an abandoned bunker after being beaten by a member of the (ex?) Avengers was pretty ironic.

Tony was about to pass out when he heard a strange noise and hurried steps towards him.

Tony, at that moment, after spending hours there, bleeding and in pain, was too far away to think about it, but when the familiar arms pulled his broken body _(when he came out of the armor?_) Against a warm, familiar chest, he sighed contentment.

“Sleep, my precious Anthony, I will take care of you now.”

The soft whisper in his ear made him smile and Tony relaxed, accepting death with open arms, lulled by Stephen's soft baritone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, people are sorry for the delay, not only for not updating this file, but my other ones too. As I said, life is very complicated these days, I’m barely having time to write lately. I thought about putting a warning in my other stories, but I don't think it's fair for readers to put warnings and kind of trick them when they click thinking it's a new chapter, but it's actually a warning.  
Anyway, I have a lot of things already written, I just don't have time to type, this chapter is being posted from my cell phone, but anyway.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! It was really fun to write this part of Tony and I am looking forward to writing Stephen's part too.  
Regarding the end, the loose ends were left on purpose, many things will be answered in Stephen's part, "The Tales of the Time Guardian".
> 
> And i also have an tumblr! Is: https://tsukichi.tumblr.com/  
post some things and some warnings about the fics, if someone still follows my stories after months without updating ;A;

**Author's Note:**

> Fic Summary:  
Tony: falls, hits his head on a rock, gets shot in the forehead, and impaled twice  
Tony: Don't die  
Also Tony: I think I have a problem?


End file.
